Odium

The Dead Saga

By: Claire C. Riley

Narrated by: Jennifer Reilly

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

It's better to die by the gun than die by the dead.

Nina's life was irrevocably changed when humanity's dead began to rise.

Now, she lives behind the walls.

The barricaded cities, erected by the government to protect the remnants of civilization, have become a brutal dictatorship - causing the inhabitants within to starve, steal, and claw for survival. Life behind the walls has become as terrifying as roaming the zombie-ridden landscape beyond.

Citizens trade what they can to gain food, water, and shelter. Nina has only one currency - her body - and she is tired of submitting herself to the greedy hands of the self-proclaimed leaders.

An opportunity to escape presents itself in the fate of a young girl named Emily-Rose. For the price of a stale piece of bread, she is set for banishment from the city, and most likely a horrific death at the hands of the deaders. Nina tells herself that it is sympathy and not self-preservation that makes her follow the young girl out of the walled metropolis, and into the overgrown world beyond.

Unused to fighting the deaders, Nina tries to scrounge for her survival and against her better judgment, begins to care for Emily-Rose. However, when you have a bread-stealing liability providing your only back up, survival seems even tougher. Nina is forced to fight for their lives, and with every zombie slain, she becomes fiercer, faster - a grim reaper with her not-so-sharp butcher's knife.

Along the path to a safe haven that might not exist, Nina and Emily-Rose meet Mikey, who introduces them to a new life they could not imagine, a life above the ground. However, this new world brings new dangers, and darker shadows than she knew.

Nina finds out that the deaders aren't the only thing to fear beyond the wall.

And that fear will not be ignored, or forgotten.

©2013 Claire C. Riley (P)2014 Claire C. Riley

As girlie as this fatman can handle

I am going to start this review off with a confession… Ok here it is… Sadly, I have short pockets. But, I have even shorter arms. Yes I am cheap. I am so cheap I don’t even pay attention. This is why I am going to say that the recent trend on most titles of having the narration so slow that it is unbearable to listen to is driving me nuts, and for the love of all things good please make it stop! It makes it impossible to judge the price per hour of any title. However, I was surprised when I first started listening to this one, the speed was perfect. I must have the speed set by accident to 1.25x speed. I slowed it down to normal speed and there really was no problem with listening to it. But here is the thing…. I was so keen to hear the story that I cranked it up just a notch to 1.25!

The start of story really does an excellent job of setting the scene. I have listened to a lot of zombie stories over the years and sadly I couldn’t recall to many of them having a female lead. It got me thinking so I searched through my library but soon gave up, because so many of them have slipped my mind. Yes I am cheap and have a poor memory. So I had a look at a goodread list called ‘147 top female lead zombie stories’. I could only find 2 in the list which I had purchased over the years. I will have to repent of my ways and not shy away with purchasing titles with a female lead character, or at least from titles authored by Claire C Riley. Yes there is a more of the love and the girlie rolling of the eyes and the ‘he likes me, she like me’ type thing it, wasn’t enough to turn me off. This type of thing can be summed up with a quote from the story “I’m just a girl who likes shoes”. Perhaps this fatman has found his girly inner heart… but please don’t tell anyone or remind me of that fact. I have a reputation to uphold!

I have just finished listening to the complete story and I have got to confess there several things I disliked. As I mentioned before the main character has way to many eye rolls, has way to many mood swings for my liking. But I think that is simply because I have teenage children myself who are going through the ‘daaaaaaaad’ plus the dreaded ‘eye roll’ stage in life. The narrator’s voice really matched the character. All of this once again helped me understand why some species eat their own young. On the plus side I don’t think it is the sort of thing which should turn you off purchasing this title, because it is a good story, and I hold out with hope as the story progresses that the lead character becomes a complete psycho or maybe a little more stable, or maybe even dead, as a lot of people do die in this story! I don’t mind that aspect of the story, after all it is a zombie story!

The fatman has enjoyed his time with this one and will purchasing the next in the series! On my preferred Indian curry rating it is a hot butter chicken, but not quite vindaloo level. Perhaps the next in the series could send the spice rating even hotter!

BTW I love what the word ‘odium’ means

Yeah for another great zombie series!

I was gifted book 2 and since I never read a series out of order I immediately bought books 1 & 3. When emailing the author I found out that she & Todd W Brown are friends/fans of each other. In fact his review of this series sold me on it. He has one of the best zombie series ever. Hoping this one turns out to be as well. I think claire pays homage to one of TW Browns characters by calling her zombies deaders. At least that's what I like to think.
Hooray for heroism! I love strong female leads & this book doesn't disappoint. I am ready for Emily to grow up & stop acting like a child & kill a zombie already! The theme is heavy on forgiveness & second chances. We can all use a bit of that.
(Tiny spoilers here)
I also don't understand why they would escape to a place that is known to have a bunker & not do everything in their power to get in to it. That was the dumbest thing ever.... but since it's mentioned again at the end of the book I'm thinking it may be crucial to book two...... hummm I'll have to wait & see. I also thought leaving a town was that has power & water was stupid. Wall that thing up!!!! Only run the electricity during the day while the sun is up. So many ideas... off to start book 2 now!
I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.
The narrator was great as well. The Reilly, Riley & old man Reilly wasn't lost on me!

Awesome Zombie- Apocolypse Book! Great Female lead

Would you listen to Odium again? Why?

Yes, I would. I am a big horror fan and this was a good book. I like to go back and re-read or re-listen to enjoyable stories. Defintely worth it! I am even thinking about gifting out a copy to my sister, it was a fun, full of action, scary book! I also liked that Nina (the main character) was just an average woman who found herself surviving, sometimes by luck and chance and sometimes by relying on her own strengths.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Odium?

*SPOILERS*I like when Nina stood up for the little girl in the start of the story, it really helped me to connect with her and made her likeable. I like when they are searcing old man Reily's garage and the shit hits the fan. I also liked when they cleared the hub building, I wish they would've stayed there a bit longer and defended themselves. I want to know why the zombies found them all uphill by the trailer in the woods? How or why did that happen? Did the forgotten lead them up there on purpose to flush them out, or was it just coincidence?

What does Jennifer Reilly bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jennifer Reilly has a smooth, soothing, and expressive voice. I truly can envision each of the characters as she brings them to life with her talents! It is really nice listening to her, I really enjoyed the book thoroughly!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES! But it is too long for that! I really couldn't wait to see what happened to Nina next.

Any additional comments?

WHERE IS THE SECOND ONE? The ending wasn't really an ending but more like a pause in the story. I hope there's another one coming because I want to FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

Great Story and likable characters

Very well written zombie story. Looking forward to the next book. Narrator was a bit melancholic at times but otherwise great.

loved Nina

I loved this book! truly enjoyed hearing a female take care of herself but not losing her desire of a man. can't wait for the next one. Loved Jennifer voice.

Odium

This book is action packed from start to finish. No moment feels dull or superfluous.
It is three years since the dead began to rise, and people who were deemed worthy are protected within walled cities. When Nina and a young girl, Emily, are banished from one of the walled cities, she does not expect to live. Nina and the reader are equally surprised by her resilience and strength as she learns to fight to protect Emily, the young girl who has become her family. This book contains all of the things that you would expect from this genre: guts, gore, evil people trying to take over the world, and zombie mayhem. But this book also includes excellent character development, and world building. So many books focus on preppers and those who are well equipped to handle the apocalypse. Nina is just your average young woman, who has to learn all of her survival skills in the midst of great peril. I enjoyed this book, and I am incredibly grateful that I have come late to this zombie party. Because Book One ends on a cliffhanger, I’m about to dive in to book two.

Hear me out

The story is great and kept me interested. I wanted to continue to listen and kept me guessing. BUT and this is big but (and I can not lie) the main character is the most annoying and salty person ever. She is nasty and immature. She gets better towards the end but still I wanted to toss her out to the deaders more than a few times. I understand she has gone through a lot before the story began but oh my goodness she is intolerable. If I was stuck in a zombie apocalypse with her I would leave her behind. I am hoping she becomes more mature and tolerable in the next book. This series has so much potential and it keeps you interested I just hope the main character gets better. The narrator was great! I love her voice and she reads clearly and well.

Not your average zombie story (in a good way!)

What did you like best about this story?

This story takes place several years after the outbreak. This is something that interests me, very much. In this book, society has come together behind massive walls to protect them from the dead. Unfortunately, not everyone was permitted behind the walls AND not everyone behind the walls is benign. The power struggle has led to people in charge who take what they want and use fear and starvation to control the masses. Nina has had enough of being raped repeatedly and watching others go through the same. Nobody speaks up, fearing the safety of their families. She is ready to take her chances outside of the walls.

What about Jennifer Reilly’s performance did you like?

Jennifer Reilly did a great job with the voices. My favorite was Steve. My second favorite was probably Crunch. It made the story easy to follow because the characters were different enough to make an impression.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did want to listen in all one sitting. I did not, but I found myself staying in the tub a little longer than usual, mowing the grass a little longer than usual, taking longer with the dishes, taking the long way home... anything to prolong my listening experience.

Any additional comments?

I was excited when Odium became available for audiobook. I had been wanting to read it for some time, but I do not have the ability to focus since I have two small children. I was disappointed when the ending came. I thought my phone said I still had an hour of the book left. Apparently, it said I had one MINUTE left. *Disappointed WHEN the ending came, not disappointed wth the actual ending.* I am already ready for more. I will definitely read more by Claire C Riley. I like her style. I like her character development. I liked that it wasn't military-based, just normal people.Give this book a shot. If you like well-written, character-driven books, you'll like this one...especially if you like snark and zombies!!

Sassy Zombie Apocalypse Survivor

Where does Odium rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the middle to upper. Nice pace of reading, good character voice changes.

What did you like best about this story?

The funny parts

Which scene was your favorite?

The gas station argument over candy

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed, but also wanted to slap the main character sometimes

Any additional comments?

I liked how Nina slowly matured over time in the book, but she still had the most random, pouty thoughts of a female.

fantastic!! fantastic! fantastic!

What did you love best about Odium?

OK - you have to get through the first chapter and then this book(s) just take off!! This series is now in my top 4 favorite of all zombie apocalypse books. The main female character is a BITCH and you will hate her for all 3 books but the rest of the characters that the author brings to the table are just really good! You get so caught up in the book that you'll be reluctant to turn it off !

What did you like best about this story?

The character building is so good- and the story just gets better and YES there are new takes and ideas on the zombie apocalypse.

What does Jennifer Reilly bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She is so good at all of her voices!

If you could take any character from Odium out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Mikey of course - hot hot

Any additional comments?

Get this series - you won't be sorry
There are 3 books total and as of this date book number 3 is not yet out on audible. I did send the author a message and asked if she knew when that might be happening. You can however get the 3rd book from Amazon.